Review: Alvin and the Chipmunks – Chipwrecked

December 18, 2011

Another movie in theaters!? I know; It’s a Christmas miracle! Today it’s Chipwrecked, the third Alvin and the Chipmunks movie.

Again, I’m going to try to do a synopsis without giving away too much. The Chipmunks, The Chipettes, and Dave are taking a cruise before they’re to perform at a music awards ceremony. The trip goes…eh…less than smoothly. Mainly due to Alvin’s antics. Antics that eventually get both trios, Dave, and former manager Ian Hawke stranded on a desert island.

There they find a castaway who references Castaway, and spend their time on the island alternately trying to survive and searching for Dave. Dave, meanwhile spends his time looking for the trios and dealing with Ian’s bitterness. Oh, and the entire time Ian is wearing a pelican suit, having been forced to work for the cruise line after losing The Chipmunks, The Chipettes, and passing on Justin Bieber twice.

To make a long story short, the trios reunite with Dave and Ian, and everyone gets off the island in time to make it to their performance at the music awards. Ian sells the story to Hollywood and manages to regain some of his lost status, and Alvin has a new-found respect for Dave.

I didn’t go in expecting a lot. I really thought that this was going to be one of those guilty-pleasure, watch-it-because-it’s-bad movies. Watching, I was pleasantly surprised. Most of this movie is pretty good. There are a few scenes that fall flat, like the dance battle in the salsa room, or the mango chase scene, but those are the only ones that really felt like they were shoehorned in. The music works very well most of the time, and the visuals are very good – in part, I think, because they went out and shot on locations. The story is decent, and the actors seemed to be interested in being there – nothing feels phoned in or under done. In all, if you’re looking to go to the movies, you could do a lot worse.